Glad to see you've already noted Diane Keaton's passing @A Feminine Force. I'm very sad to read this. I've not watched any of her early work, but for my family she'll always be Mother of the Bride. In our house we call her Mrs Naughty George, because our son always called Steve Martin (in Father of the Bride), Naughty George. Comfort to her family and friends ...
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give, and while many of them were pretty good and she carried out her duties admirably, I can't say her personal presence was usually pivotal to my enjoyment of them.
I think the films in which she played a main character that I found the most interesting were Looking For Mr. Goodbar and The Good Mother, both in their own ways dealing with dark themes of sexual and romantic conflict, the former as gritty urban-realism and the latter as standard courtroom drama(*), and they are for me very concept and dialogue driven
I know the story arc in The Godfather films involves her trusting that Michael is out of the family-business but discovering otherwise, but I don't remember much her own actual involvement in that as an actor. In my defense, for narrative and perhaps thematic reasons the first movie clearly plays down women's presence, PLUS was not likely to provide a lot of opportunity for the actor playing the token Icy-WASP outsider to really burn herself into your consciousness. My clearest memory of her is Part 1's final shot through the doorway, which is great, but could be anyone playing it.
I'm a casually appreciative viewer of Woody Allen, but his ensembles are generally background noise to me. I definitely know the scene from Bananas where she comes to his door canvassing for a left-wing Central American cause, and I assume she's the one under the sheets seen in the final sporting event.
And come to think of it, I did half-enjoy Marvin's World, and am reasonably certain I know which character she played. The scene of her getting the bad news from the doctor has become somewhat iconic in my mind, for a gag which will "ring a bell" for anyone who remebers it.
Will say I found Something's Gotta Give somewhat annoying. Her and the Jackster were probably well-cast for a midlife crisis-fueled romcom, but the very genre itself sorta mitigates against high evaluation.
(*) Looking For Mr. Goodbar is actually quite reactionary in its treatment of sexuality and gender, in a
tragedy-of-a-fallen-woman
kinda way. Interestingly, one of the few movies I've seen of hers where she was THE lead of either gender, The Good Mother being another. FWIW, I'd say the underlying social ideologies of those two films are directly opposite one another.
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give.
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(a hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(smart, hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
I stand corrected. It was Louise Lasser as the left-wing canvasser in Bananas. Keaton was in Sleeper, which I recall being a similar mildly political comedy with a fish-outta-water set-up.
Comments
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give, and while many of them were pretty good and she carried out her duties admirably, I can't say her personal presence was usually pivotal to my enjoyment of them.
I think the films in which she played a main character that I found the most interesting were Looking For Mr. Goodbar and The Good Mother, both in their own ways dealing with dark themes of sexual and romantic conflict, the former as gritty urban-realism and the latter as standard courtroom drama(*), and they are for me very concept and dialogue driven
I know the story arc in The Godfather films involves her trusting that Michael is out of the family-business but discovering otherwise, but I don't remember much her own actual involvement in that as an actor. In my defense, for narrative and perhaps thematic reasons the first movie clearly plays down women's presence, PLUS was not likely to provide a lot of opportunity for the actor playing the token Icy-WASP outsider to really burn herself into your consciousness. My clearest memory of her is Part 1's final shot through the doorway, which is great, but could be anyone playing it.
I'm a casually appreciative viewer of Woody Allen, but his ensembles are generally background noise to me. I definitely know the scene from Bananas where she comes to his door canvassing for a left-wing Central American cause, and I assume she's the one under the sheets seen in the final sporting event.
And come to think of it, I did half-enjoy Marvin's World, and am reasonably certain I know which character she played. The scene of her getting the bad news from the doctor has become somewhat iconic in my mind, for a gag which will "ring a bell" for anyone who remebers it.
Will say I found Something's Gotta Give somewhat annoying. Her and the Jackster were probably well-cast for a midlife crisis-fueled romcom, but the very genre itself sorta mitigates against high evaluation.
(*) Looking For Mr. Goodbar is actually quite reactionary in its treatment of sexuality and gender, in a
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(a hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(smart, hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).